Keys Artist Swims Eight Miles to Help Historic Lighthouses

ISLAMORADA, Florida Keys - A Florida Keys artist completed an eight-mile Atlantic Ocean swim Saturday to raise awareness for preserving six aging lighthouses off the island chain.

Larry Herlth's roundtrip swim to Alligator Reef Lighthouse took the 52-year-old five hours and 11 minutes.

Known locally as "Lighthouse Larry" for his detailed, scale metal reproductions of Keys lighthouses, Herlth is obsessed with the need to preserve the large beacons originally fabricated in the 1800s to warn ships away from the Florida Keys reef tract.

Modern Global Positioning System navigation has replaced the need for lighthouses in the Keys and, with the exception of their navigation lights, they are no longer maintained.

"We need to bring the attention to a national treasure," he said. "These structures need to be saved."

Herlth wants the federal government to take the lead in preserving Keys lighthouses and compares them to icons such as the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument.

"Look at the money, time and resources spent on monuments in Washington that were not there when these (the lighthouses) were built," he said. "These saved lives, commerce and these are an absolute part of our history."

Herlth said he believes $16 million would be needed to stabilize Keys lighthouses.

To continue building awareness for lighthouse restoration, Herlth said he plans to lead efforts to organize a competitive swim next August from Islamorada to Alligator light.

Herlth was not the only long-distance swimmer in the ocean Saturday. About 80 miles away off Key West, marathon swimmer Diana Nyad trained, preparing for a fourth attempt to swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys. Nyad, who turns 63 Aug. 22, and her team are waiting for "great" weather conditions before beginning the effort.

To learn more about Lighthouse Larry and his sculptures, click here.

Herlth hopes to lead efforts to organize a competitive swim next August from Islamorada to Alligator light. Images courtesy of Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau

Herlth hopes to lead efforts to organize a competitive swim next August from Islamorada to Alligator light. Images courtesy of Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau

Herlth fashioned his passion for lighthouses into creating exact scale replicas of six historical beacons off the Florida Keys — three of them built before the Civil War.

Herlth fashioned his passion for lighthouses into creating exact scale replicas of six historical beacons off the Florida Keys — three of them built before the Civil War.

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